No comments about Managing the Waterway: Biscayne Bay to Dry Tortugas, FL: An Enriched Cruising Guide for Florida Keys Travelers.

No comments about Golfing Florida's Best.

No comments about Wakulla Springs...its History, Legend, Birds and Wildlife.

No comments about Big Cypress Swamp and the Ten Thousand Islands: Eastern America's Last Great Wilderness.

1 comments about Carefree Canoeing in Florida: A Guide to Trails and Outfitters on Florida's Scenic Waterways.

1. To be useful, a guidebook to canoeing trails must be accurate and complete in directing the reader and potential paddler to undertake the trips described with confidence and in safety. I am familiar with many of the rivers described in this book in north Florida and have noted several gross inaccuracies. The most dramatic being the description of a Blackwater River trip of more than thirty river miles being accomplished in four hours! This could certainly lead a novice paddler into considerable difficulty were they to try the same trip. Taken as entertaining prose and accepting the "poetic license" taken with some important details, I found the book otherwise to be enjoyable reading, written by folks who certainly do enjoy the sport. As a starting point in looking for a new river to cruise Carefree Canoeing is a fun and useful read, but accurate and complete sources must be consulted before planning a trip to any of the rivers described.

3 comments about Universal Orlando, 2006 Edition: The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Theme Park Adventure (Universal Orlando).

1. I have perused many travel guides for the Orlando area, and this one was the most comprehensive and user-friendly for Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. This guide includes everthing from touring plans to restaurant reviews to detailed information about the Universal resorts. I found the detailed descriptions and ratings of the attractions to be extremely helpful in preparing for our trip. My teenage daughter has PDD-NOS, and it was very helpful for her to be able to know what she was going to experience on a ride *before* she got on it.
   
   I highly recommend this book.



2. Is your family planning a trip to Orlando, but hoping for a little time away from a certain mouse? Think there's nothing to do in Orlando except hang with one cranky duck named Donald? Are your kids older and looking for a little more excitement in their Orlando vacation?
   
   Look no further! Kelly Monaghan has the book for you! UNIVERSAL ORLANDO 2006: The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Theme Park Adventure will have you planning a trip to Orlando with a little more focus on fun and a little less focus on...well, you-know-who.
   
   Organized in true travel-guidebook style, UNIVERSAL ORLANDO breaks down the two parks and City Walk into easy-to-digest bites. Monaghan gives you the inside information on rides, shops, restaurants, and other "insider information" that will leave little doubt in your mind what you will be getting into when planning your trip. She gives you price ranges, recommended photo opportunities (a very nice addition to the book by the way), star ratings, and even length of rides and attractions.
   
   The information flies fast and free from the get-go in this book. In the opening chapter about planning your escape to Orlando, you can find very handy information about average weather patterns in the area, average park attendance according to various times of year, ticket options and prices, and even where to park.
   
   Monaghan leaves no stones unturned. She offers advice and what to do according to the length of your stay. She gives detailed information about the amenities to be found in the Universal resort hotels, tells you where and when to obtain character autographs, and even provides maps of the various parks.
   
   Before reading this book, I had no idea all that Universal Orlando has to offer Orlando visitors. I was shocked to learn how many fun alternatives there are to be had there. Needless to say, UNIVERSAL ORLANDO has changed my vacation plans for this year.



3. Don't waste your money on this book. Even though it says 2006, it is very out of date. Using this guide really messed up our planning for our Universal Studios visit. There is a lot of information here that is pure and simple WRONG. This is most especially true about Express Pass which is now a huge ripoff. The free guide you get at the gate is really all you need. By the way, I thought Universal Studios sucked except for a few movie theme rides like Jurassic Park. My kids, however, loved the rollar coasters. I should have stayed home, not bought the book, and gone to Six Flags. I would have saved a lot of money.
   Give me Birnbaum and Disney World anyday.

2 comments about Frommer's Florida's Best-Loved Driving Tours.

1. I've lived in the beautiful state of Florida for 36 years and this book is one of the best tour guides I've seen for people who love to drive as much as I do. While perusing this publication, I have found several places that even I haven't visited yet. There are 25 separate driving tours (recommended driving times of one to three days) mapped out for you to enjoy. Each trip/map is accompanied by descriptions and color photographs of the best attractions to visit along the suggested routes. So, grab a copy, jump in your car, and have a great time whether you are with family, with friends, or going solo. And remember, please drive safely and enjoy this great state.



2. With a decent guide State guide you won't need this book. Frommer's has two very good Florida Guides that for a few dollars more gives you so much more.

   What this guide will give you is 25 Driving tours. You will find the guide useful if you are going to Florida (or live in Florida) have a car, you love to drive, and have free days to follow out the itineraries.

   For example the `Dayton Beach' Tour is 3 days and 191 miles. The small map starts out each tour and gives a numbered, stop by stop, clue of what you will see along the route. Each place of interest has a very short description, very short, that provides a very basic insight. Most of the tours found in this guides go in loops, you finish where you started. This is probably not what you wanted to do.

   After 4 weeks in Florida, I found myself using the State guides "Frommers" & "Fodors" over and over (see my reviews) and seldom used this guide. In short, the guide is well thought out, colorful, and the very short informational pieces are well written, BUT the usefulness of the guide is not there for me and I doubt if it will be for you. Conditionally recommend.

1 comments about Florida enchantments.

1. Fascinating recounting of Dimock's nature adventures in Florida in the early 1900s. A.W. Dimock was a prominent New York financier who was three times a millionaire and three times wrecked on Wall Street in the 1800s - 1900s. That tells you right there he was a different sort of bird, which makes for interesting perspectives. He was also an adventurer, and one of his expeditions took him to Florida, which is the subject of this book.
   
   It's a charming recounting of an old Florida where things that one could do without the least concern or disapproval would nowadays land one in jail. He tells of such things as hunting manatees for capture, shooting or harpooning alligators and crocodiles, harpooning dolphins, and even digging up loggerhead eggs (and eating them raw!). Of course these things cannot and should not be done today because of the problems relating to man's overpopulation and over-hunting. But still it's fascinating to read about how it was way back in that completely different time.
   
   The book is filled with photographs with interesting captions. Start out by looking at them and reading the captions and you will be hooked on reading the whole text of the book. He writes with a distinct 1900 or so writing style and with a good bit of wry humor, which makes for entertaining reading. (Similar in a general way to Daniel Streeter's 1926 book "Denatured Africa", which describes a big game hunting trip in Africa way back in a completely different era. I found Streeter's book after Hemingway refrered to it in "Green Hills Of Africa". I highly recommend both of those books as well)

No comments about Rand Mcnally Lakeland/winter Haven, Florida.

No comments about Affordable Florida: The Only Guide for Travelers with Limited Budgets and Discriminating Tastes (2nd ed).